I went up to her and talked to her about guns, where she could get training, etc. She was a former marine who had been discharged when she transitioned and was really cool. She found out that I was a trustee of a church that was super progressive and that we hosted the annual transgender day of remembrance, and she and I both had a great experience.

Turned out she'd been shunned by her church, and she was super excited to learn that there were prone who shared her faith and hobbies that weren't bigots, and we both had a great time.

She ended up telling others about her experience, and I ended up becoming the regional gun sales guy for the transgender community, and that kinda spread into the queer community in general.

The coolest part though was how it affected the other sales guys. When she first arrived, they said they were dirty I had to deal with the freak. Then when they realized I was fine with it they'd joke about "Chilie's new girlfriend" any time a trans person would come in.

But sometimes I'd be busy with another customer, and another salesman would end up helping them. Eventually, some of them became more open and realized that people are people.

I'd say of the 30 gun line guys, 10-12 changed his they treated queer customers throughout my time there, and a few were fine before. When I moved on, probably 3/4 were fine with it.

While those numbers aren't amazing overall, it was a huge improvement from the 10% early on. I don't think I'd go back to gun sales. I have a career job now and make more than triple the money with great benefits and predictable hours. But I like to think that my time behind the counter made the gun-buying experience better for customers of all kinds at that particular mega-store.